Centurion Blog

Welcome to the Centurion Training blog. Our blogs used to consist of our monthly newsletter however we have decided to post fitness information and tips on a daily basis to enhance your fitness knowledge, anyway on with the show!


Reason Number 1...

Long, slow duration cardiovascular exercise elevates cortisol levels within your body. (Cortisol is a hormone released in response to stress. It's primary functions are to increase blood sugar, suppress the immune system and decreases bone formation) Elevated cortisol levels in the body means more fat will be stored around the abdomen and an ever increasing waistline!

Reason Number 2...

Excessive steady state cardio will increase the time spent by your body in a state of catabolism (muscle breakdown for fuel) so hours of steady state cardio will ultimately lead to a decrease in muscle mass which in turn will decrease your metabolic rate!

Reason Number 3...

Steady state cardio on a general level will make you more susceptible to injuries, any movement performed repetitively in the same position will cause excessive wear and tear on the joints and supporting structures. This is especially true for beginners in the gym who are misinformed about their cardiovascular training methods or have poor technique (one example is watching people on treadmills with poor gait).

Reason Number 4...

Long duration cardiovascular exercise can be extremely time consuming for minimal results. Unless you are training for a specific event such as a marathon then you are better off performing short interval workouts such as the ones listed below. Shorter workouts at a higher intensity will help you lose fat faster and improve cardiovascular conditioning in a shorter time than steady state cardio.


Sample Interval Workout

Perform your intervals on four cardiovascular machines using the Tabata training protocol (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest for a total of 8 rounds). Rest two minutes then move onto the next machine.

You can choose any four exercises that you enjoy and that allow you to train hard over the four minute Tabata rounds.

Ensure you make a note of all the exercise details such as incline, resistance etc so you can track your progress throughout your training regime. Here are my suggestions;

Incline treadmill (either walk, jog or sprint)
Rowing machine
X-Trainer
Spin bike (standing climb position)

Sample Bodyweight Interval Circuit

Press ups
Squats
Inverted rows
Lunges
Pike press ups
Step Ups
Wide grip pull ups

Perform each exercise for thirty seconds and between each exercise listed above perform one bodyweight cardiovascular exercise for thirty seconds. I suggest choosing one of the following;

Burpees
Star jumps
Mountain climbers
Shuttle runs/Suicide Drills (either 30 seconds of shuttle runs or one complete suicide drill)

This only equates to 7 minutes per circuit! Perform the entire circuit 3-4 times and then curse me under your breath!



I hope this post has inspired you to start being fitter, keep your current level of conditioning or just to try something new!
Thank you for reading and feel free to leave a comment!

If you are short on time then interval training can be an effective to maximise calorie burning, cardio conditioning and fat loss in a lunchtime or time crunched workout.

Research in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" found that 45 minute bouts of intense exercise such as the workout samples below will increase your metabolc rate (rate at which you burn calories) for more than 14 hours which can burn up to 190 more calories long after you have left the gym!

Another study from the University of Nebraska found that athletes performing 30 second intervals at 90% of max effort last 20% longer than when performing 3 minute intervals even though their heart rates were higher! Basically less lactic acid accumulates in your muscles which means you reduce workout pain whilst still reaping the physique and performance rewards.

Workout  1 - Treadmill
Estimated Calories Burned - 705
Total Time - 43 minutes

1 - 5 minutes ... Warm up
5 - 10 minutes ... 5mph jog
10 - 15 minutes ... 7mph sprint
15 - 20 minutes ... 5mph jog
20 - 23 minutes ... Rest (walk)
23 - 28 minutes ... 8 mph sprint
28 - 33 minutes ... 6 mph jog
33 - 38 minutes ... 7 mph sprint
38 - 43 minutes ... 5 mph jog

Workout 2 - Run Steps or Stepper
Estimated Calories Burned - 643
Total Time - 43 minutes

1 - 5 minutes ... Warm up
5 - 10 minutes ... Step run or stepper
10 - 15 minutes ... Jog
15 - 17 minutes ... Mountain climbers
17 - 19 minutes ... Rest
19 - 24 minutes ... Step run or stepper
24 - 29 minutes ... Jog
29 - 31 minutes ... Mountain climbers
31 - 33 minutes ... Rest
33 - 38 minutes ... Step run or stepper
38 - 43 minutes ... Jog

Workout 3 - Run Steps or Stepper
Estimated Calories Burned - 597
Total Time - 20-25 minutes

5-10 minutes ... Warm up
30 seconds ... Step run or stepper
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Skip
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Step ups
1 - 2 minutes ... Rest
30 seconds ... Step run or stepper
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Skip
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Step ups
1 - 2 minutes ... Rest
30 seconds ... Step run or stepper
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Skip
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Step Ups
1 - 2 minutes ... Rest


I hope that once again my blog has been useful, if you have any questions then please email me on josh@centuriontraining.com and feel free to leave a comment!

Joshua Mullin - Master Trainer